George Back, following his two overland Arctic expeditions with John Franklin, was sent to locate John Ross who had been missing for three years. Back went overland to Great Slave Lake where, in the spring of 1833, he received word that Ross had returned to the UK. He then continued, descending the full 440 miles of the unexplored Great Fish (now Back) River to the Arctic Ocean. Overall, the expedition traveled 7700 miles and completed both objectives – to navigate the river and to map as much as possible of the sea coast. A classic account of early Arctic exploration. This US edition did not have the engraved plates present in the UK edition.